Mobile owners have hundreds of thousands of applications to choose from. Android Market has more than 600,000 applications, while the iTunes App Store has more than 750,000 applications. There is every chance that the app that you develop gets lost in the clutter.
Developing a wonderful app is just the start: you need to get it approved on the app stores, you need to get it reviewed, you need to promote it and get people excited. Let’s see how you can market your app to achieve success and popularity with your very first app.
Get Ready
Start planning and get marketing materials ready
In one sense, you begin marketing the app the very day you start conceptualizing and developing it. By determining ways in which the app would entertain or assist users, you market the app to yourself. Be clear about the target audience and start teaser campaigns about the app on social media sites. Try to spark the curiosity of tech bloggers by distributing tidbits of information about your app.
During mobile development, note down the most relevant and important facts about your app, make a list of the vital tasks it performs, and create a document that highlights all its selling points. Create a video demo for your app: a simple demo with you using the app will also be enough.
If you can partner with a major business to promote your app, your chances of success will increase dramatically. For instance, if you are launching a music app, you can integrate your app with other music-related web services and gain the attention of your partner’s existing users.
Market Ferociously
Contact press personnel, tie up with partners, and spark social media interest
The app marketing process begins in earnest once you are done with developing the app and are a week away from release. This is the time when you need to go into a marketing overdrive – if your app gets a large number of downloads on the first day, you can depend on getting a lot of free publicity.
Write emails to tech bloggers, get in touch with press agents and journalists who write for tech journals, send press releases and promotional material to magazines, newspapers and tech websites. Ensure that your marketing material is interesting and innovative enough for the press.
Spray social media with interesting and interactive information about your application. Ensure that the link to download your app is visible on your website and your social media pages. Launching an invite-only beta form of your application and offering it to influential users can also fire the curiosity of other users and help popularize your app.
You can also use paid online marketing services that target specific mobile users. While some marketers frown on this practice, it can be a useful way of driving downloads on the launch day.
Engage Users, Act on Feedback
Smooth services and swift response is the best marketing tool
Okay, so you have launched your app and lot of people have downloaded it. Some of them will like it, and some may find problems with your app. You need to be on your toes and engage all these people. Answer their queries, analyze their feedback and consider their suggestions. Use social media to connect with as many of your users as you can.
If needed, make changes in the application on the basis of the feedback, release updates, thank your users and keep your ear to the ground. This exercise will allow you to hone your application and bring it as close to perfection as you can. And the better your app gets, the better the things people will say about it.
To sum it up…
Start with a clear vision of how you want people to think of your app. Partner with businesses or service providers whose background matches with what your app does, try and get your application featured in tech blogs or news stories, use social media to promote your app. And above all, engage the audience and act on their feedback. Do these things well, and you app will not get lost in the crowd.
